French U-zine interview with Sherwood Webber posted! Check out what Webber has to say about his days in Skinless, Enemy Reign, and the state of metal today.

1)  Hi Sherwood. In this interview we’ll talk about your whole career, your time in Skinless, what you do now, etc. Can you, as a beginning, make a short summary of your career and introduce your new band, Enemy Reign ?  

I joined Skinless when I was 16, played with them until 2003 when I decided I needed a change of pace.  We did a lot of touring and participated in a lot of underground debauchery, we had tons of fun , saw the world, I was fortunate to have played with those dudes, it was a great time that afforded us a lot of opportunities.  Enemy Reign is the convergence of experienced players that came together at the right time. We are a band that was formed with a purpose and we’re working on showing it to the world.

 

 2) You have just released your first EP" Means To A Dead End" and to me it sounds somewhat like Skinless, but in a more varied type with thrash or even hardcore influence. Do you want people to see you as far from other bands ?

“Means to A Dead End” was the first group of songs we wrote as Enemy Reign, the EP is a great representation of what we are about, and like any new band we are just exposing our music, so right now it’s all about that, writing solid music and presenting it live.  We’re not a an “everything for everyone” kind of band, there are so many of those around...They have brutal parts, blast beats, breakdowns, slayer riffs and sing songy choruses....I don’t know where that shit came from in the past 4 years...but everyone who’s reading knows what I’m talking about.  We’re not trying to break the mold in that sense...we are about being true to our style and representing heavy music as meaningful and not a throw away trend.  So while we are about pushing the boundaries and promoting a thoughtful perception of heavy music, we’re not trying to please everyone...  We’ve had “normal” people say that it’s the heaviest thing they’ve ever experienced but they like it, a lot.
 

 3) At the moment, the deathcore scene is on the rise, don't you fear that Enemy Reign could be associated to this trend ? By the way, could you give us your opinion on the musical ganre ?  

Whatever, death core – meth-core..   We have no fear.

 
 4)  If you had to convince a metalhead to listen to Enemy Reign, how would you present your band and your Ep ?

1-I’d say, here is the EP  http://enemyreign.com/mp3player.html
Come see us live too, cause that’s where it’s really at.   

2- If they had something strong to say against our music, I’d encourage them to write a blog and copy the world on it. In the web world they say any content is good content. I’ve had years of enjoyment out of reading 3 page scathing reviews.  Totally awesome! I’m not going to tell them to go get a life, because they obviously have an awesome one.
 
3- I’d say we have a new song written for our up coming full length called “ How About.......Go Fuck Yourself!” I think they should make that their profile song on Myspace.... Cause even going and fucking yourself can be pretty good if you do it right.

 5)  Can you tell us more about the future of Enemy Reign ? Is it now your main priority ?

Yes, it is my main musical priority as well as the rest of the people in the band, fortunately we have careers that allow us to work on the band stuff, I’m heavily involved in concert production and the music business. Andon and Justin are designers, Nick has a keen business sense and Cassie hits the streets to promote and handles a lot of the merch stuff.  We all have our part and hold each other accountable.  And that is all independent of writing and actually playing in the band!!  As you see, there are many elements......
 

 6) How is the writing process going on ? You write almost everything or everyone participates equally ?

Nick is a major, major contributor to the song writing... He’s dedicated and a riff machine...”Means To A Dead End” is the smallest taste of what is coming this year from ER.
As a whole we take rough structures and mold them in rehearsals. I’m known to break up the songs and add the seasoning: clamps, catches, stops, starts, squels, feel type elements.... We all lend a hand in the process. Nick and Andon are brothers ,so they are very intuitive, for me it’s like playing with metal Van Halen’s expect I’m not David Lee Roth and we don’t make any money.


 7) This new project is like a real change in your life, isn’t it (new home, new life…). Can you remember us why you left Skinless ?

 Yeah it’s a totally good change, I needed a couple years to myself, without touring, without living everywhere at once, so I moved to Denver.  Since then I’ve found really good lifestyle which allowed me to come back into a band with a refreshed attitude. Now is the perfect time for this,...
 

8)  Are you still in good terms with the band members ?
 
Great terms, I attended Joe’s Wedding this summer and am in frequent contact with all the guys....great friends, for all time. I’m a officially Keyser brother, as well as a Guenther brother, so I have a lot of brothers. It’s good.

 
 9)  What do you think about the last album, which is the first where you don’t sing ? I personally was very disappointed, this album sounds quite fade after the excellent From Sacrifice to Survival…

I like it a lot, Jason stepped right up to the plate and into a position that I couldn’t continue with.  Sounds killer, it’s no fade, just another progression in Skinless. C’mon John, don’t hate, appreciate.


10) If someday the guys offered you to come back in the band, would you be ready to live again this experience or have you definitely moved to something else ?

I have a band, it’s called Enemy Reign and we fucking rule. If any future collaborations with Skinless worked out that would be fine too, but I live across the country and am super busy with concert production, snowboarding, taking care of my dog, lady, band, and home......there are only so many hours to keep track of it all... I’d rather do those things the best I can. I want to be the sun, not just a fire, so you have to do the things you are passionate about extremely well.

 
11) Now a few more personal questions. It seems to me that you weren’t singer at the beginning but drummer. What made you want to sing ?

Yeah, I love playing drums, I don’t know really know, it seemed like I could get into more trouble being the singer so it appealed to me.

 
12)  What made you listen to metal ? Has it happened early in your life ? What are your main influences ?

Bad question interviewer.  I like metal, a lot. Just because.


 13) What do you think about the current death metal scene ? Aren’t you a bit annoyed by this new Deathcore trend ?

I don’t care, there will always be good music and good metal coming out , I’m not going to listen or talk shit on stuff that blows, wait sorry, I’ll talk shit anyway...but, not annoyed by trends, maybe we’re “death -core”  maybe we sound like Widespread Panic, maybe we touch each other in weird ways.... It’s all subject to interpretation.  We’re a heavy fucking band, and we sound nothing like Atreyu, so that’s enough for me. I’ve always been about saying fuck all the critical non-sense, but would be the first to throw in my 2 cents, so I guess it’s a never ending discussion to have over a beer.

 
14) If you could keep only 3 things from your whole career, what would they be ? (an album, a song, a gig, a stupid thing that you did…)

My travels, the things I’ve learned, and the people I’ve met.

 
15) A stupid question to finish with. After watching Skinflick, I became fan of those mad Japanese people. How did you end up having fun with these guys ? I can tell you that I spent a week imitating them on Hammer Smashed Face of Praise the Lord ! The tour in Japan looked really exciting !

Japan has always been a stronghold for heavy music....the Japanese fans are the best as you’ve seen....we met them out side of a show and just hung out and did fun stuff in NAGOYA all night....  That’s always been the my attitude..........let’s do cool shit.


 16) Thank you for answering this interview. I wish you a good future and I hope to see you some day at a gig in France. The last words are yours !

Thanks!! We’ll be there before you know it, doing cool shit. LISTEN TO US.


http://www.myspace.com/enemyreign
http://www.enemyreign.com

 


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